Christians celebrate Christmas in ancient Bethlehem church

Pilgrims and locals celebrated Christmas Day on Tuesday in the ancient Bethlehem church built over the site where tradition holds Jesus was born, candles illuminating the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filling its overflowing halls.

Overcast skies and a cold wind didn't dampen the spirits of worshippers who came dressed in holiday finery and the traditional attire of foreign lands to mark the holy day in this biblical West Bank town. Bells pealed and long lines formed inside the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex as Christian faithful waited eagerly to see the grotto that is Jesus' traditional birthplace.

Duncan Hardock, 24, a writer from MacLean, Va., travelled to Bethlehem from the republic of Georgia, where he had been teaching English. After passing through the separation barrier Israel built to ward off West Bank attackers, he walked to Bethlehem's Manger Square where the church stands.

"I feel we got to see both sides of Bethlehem in a really short period of time," Hardock said. "On our walk from the wall, we got to see the lonesome, closed side of Bethlehem ... But the moment we got into town, we're suddenly in the middle of the party."

Bethlehem lies 10 kilometres (6 miles) south of Jerusalem. Entry to the city is controlled by Israel, which occupied the West Bank in 1967.

Hardock's girlfriend, 22-year-old Jennifer Gemmell of Longmont, Colorado, compared the festive spirit in Manger Square on Christmas Eve, saying "it's like being at Times Square at New Year's."

The cavernous church was unable to hold all the worshippers who had hoped to celebrate Christmas Day Mass inside. A loudspeaker outside the church broadcast the service to the hundreds in the square who could not pack inside.

An official from the Palestinian tourism ministry predicted 10,000 foreigners would visit Bethlehem on Christmas Day and said 15,000 visited on Christmas Eve -- up 20 per cent from a year earlier. The official, Rula Maia'a, attributed the rise in part to the Church of the Nativity's classification earlier this year as a U.N. World Heritage Site.

Christians from Israel -- Arab citizens and others -- also boosted the number of visitors.

Information technology consultant Martin Wzork came to Bethlehem with his wife and young daughter from Krakow, Poland.

"My wife believes in God, so it's important for her," said Wzork, who described himself as a non-believer. "For me, it's interesting because it's a historical place and famous."

On Christmas Eve, thousands of Christians from all over the world packed the square, which was awash in light, resplendent with decorations and adorned by a lavishly decorated, 17-meter (55-foot) fir tree. Their Palestinian hosts, who welcome this holiday as the high point of their city's year, were especially joyous this season, proud of the United Nations' recognition of an independent state of Palestine just last month.

Israel, backed by the United States, opposed the Palestinian statehood bid, saying it was a ploy to bypass negotiations, something the Palestinians deny. Talks stalled four years ago.

Later Tuesday, the world's Christmas focus will shift to Vatican City, where Pope Benedict XVI will deliver his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" speech -- Latin for "to the city and the world" -- from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans gathered in the piazza below.

The speech traditionally reviews world events and global challenges, and ends with the pope delivering Christmas greetings in dozens of languages.

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Photos

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal, centre, holds the Baby Jesus as he and clergy arrive to pray at the Grotto, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, at the Church of the Nativity, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, early Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012. (AP / Abed Al Hashlamoun, Pool)